


There Will Be Joy Again

by tsukinobara



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, i guess?, i mean it's all comfort and they're not hurt any more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25540831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsukinobara/pseuds/tsukinobara
Summary: But Nicky still has blood in his hair - the back of his head is matted with it - and it's a reminder Joe doesn't need to see.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 14
Kudos: 203





	There Will Be Joy Again

**Author's Note:**

> I could probably talk about this fic for as many words as it took to write it. I won't. Thanks to [exsequar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/exsequar) for looking it over and saying nice things about it, and the guy from my writing group who, when I said the most productive I'd been in two weeks was 368 words of _The Old Guard_ fanfic, asked if it was *lowers voice* Joe and Nicky, and when I said yes, kermitflailed so hard I thought he was going to fall off his couch.
> 
> Set after they escape from Merrick's lab but before the scene at the pub.

It's later, not much, in a nondescript hotel where they can clean up and change clothes and get their bearings. Nile is really one of them now, all in but still so new. They have Copley to deal with. Andy's mortality. Booker's betrayal. Their own exposure.

Joe is angry and worried and glad, all at the same time. This is his way - always full of emotion, never too interested in hiding it or holding it back. He knows they'll deal with everything soon enough. But Nicky still has blood in his hair - the back of his head is matted with it - and it's a reminder Joe doesn't need to see. A thousand years he's been watching Nicky die, and every time his heart stutters and stops until Nicky draws a breath again.

The water is warm, the shower big enough for two, and Joe's hands are gentle in Nicky's hair as he shampoos and scrubs. Nicky tilts his head back. Joe massages his scalp.

He thinks about Malta and can't help but smile.

He puts his hands on Nicky's shoulders, turns him around. Nicky's skin is unmarked, unscarred, perfect. The corners of his mouth turn up. Joe takes his face in both hands and kisses him. It's a calm kiss, a grateful kiss, and then it becomes a long, slow, deeper kiss. This too is perfect.

"We can't stay in the shower forever," Nicky says eventually, laughing a little.

"Perché no?" Joe grins.

Nicky just rests his forehead against Joe's and doesn't say anything. Joe can guess what he's thinking. It's hard not to know, after so many years.

They take their peace when they can get it, because sometimes that peace is fleeting. They fight the good fight, always, even though - or because - the fight is never-ending. But Joe has his sun, his moon, his beating heart, his guiding star. Nicky is the solid ground beneath his feet and the touch that still makes his skin shiver even after a millennium. His all and more. His destiny.

He has Nicky, now looking as if he's never been hurt, and Nicky has him. Another thousand years will be a joy, because of that.

**Author's Note:**

> Perché no? = Why not?


End file.
